The present invention relates to a coupling sleeve for a fishing rod, and more particularly, to a coupling sleeve for a hollow fishing rod, in which a fishing line passes through a hollow extent of the rod interior.
Fishing rods containing an interior passage for guiding fishing line are well-known. Fishing rods having multiple sections which may be disassembled from one another are also known. Further, a coupling sleeve interconnecting tip and butt sections of a hollow fishing rod is well known. For example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model No. 80968/1988 discloses a coupling sleeve which has a fore joint for coupling to a rod tip section and a rear joint for coupling to a rod butt section. The coupling sleeve in the prior art is provided with a fishing line guide hole for guiding fishing line from a reel into the fishing rod and a fishing line supply hole leading to the fishing line guide hole via an intervening space.
The winding mechanism usually provided on the reel typically will oscillate the fishing line across the reel spool, to keep the windings level. With the hollow fishing rod having a coupling sleeve as above, the fishing line, oscillating as it is wound, thus contacts the rim of the fishing line guide hole. Water, debris and the like, brought into the rod along with the fishing line, are scraped off the fishing line at the rim of the fishing line guide hole. Consequently, such debris remains deposited below the fishing line guide hole, and can come into contact with the fishing line, giving rise to resistance on the fishing line as it travels.
Moreover, in the conventional coupling sleeve, mechanical stress concentrates in the portion of the sleeve where the fishing line guide hole is formed, which tends to diminish its structural strength.